| 1 | 1 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2668 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | _______________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 5 | 5 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 6 | 6 | | _______________ |
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| 7 | 7 | | SENATE, April 1, 2024. |
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| 8 | 8 | | The committee on Education, to whom was referred the petitions (accompanied by bill, |
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| 9 | 9 | | Senate, No. 260) of Julian Cyr, Joanne M. Comerford and Michael J. Barrett for legislation to |
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| 10 | 10 | | implement elementary and secondary interdisciplinary climate justice education across the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Commonwealth, report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 2668). |
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| 12 | 12 | | For the committee, |
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| 13 | 13 | | Jason M. Lewis 1 of 4 |
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| 14 | 14 | | FILED ON: 2/7/2024 |
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| 15 | 15 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2668 |
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| 16 | 16 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 17 | 17 | | _______________ |
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| 18 | 18 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 19 | 19 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 20 | 20 | | _______________ |
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| 21 | 21 | | An Act implementing elementary and secondary interdisciplinary climate literacy education |
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| 22 | 22 | | across the Commonwealth. |
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| 23 | 23 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 24 | 24 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 25 | 25 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, |
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| 26 | 26 | | 2is hereby amended by adding the following section. |
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| 27 | 27 | | 3 Section 2BBBBBB (a). To achieve, promote and support the instruction of climate |
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| 28 | 28 | | 4science education for K-12 public school students in districts across the commonwealth, there |
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| 29 | 29 | | 5shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as |
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| 30 | 30 | | 6the Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Trust Fund. There shall be credited to the fund: (1) |
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| 31 | 31 | | 7revenue from appropriations and other money authorized by the general court and specifically |
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| 32 | 32 | | 8designated to be credited to the fund; (2) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, |
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| 33 | 33 | | 9grants, and donations to further climate science education; and (3) interest earned on money in |
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| 34 | 34 | | 10the fund. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and any |
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| 35 | 35 | | 11money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 12 (b) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 13Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Council established in section 1U(b) of chapter 69 of the 2 of 4 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 14General Laws, shall make expenditures from the fund to support Interdisciplinary Climate |
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| 39 | 39 | | 15Literacy education. In making such expenditures, the commissioner shall prioritize: |
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| 40 | 40 | | 16 (1) underserved communities across the commonwealth including those public schools or |
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| 41 | 41 | | 17school districts with high concentrations of economically-disadvantaged students; those public |
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| 42 | 42 | | 18schools or school districts which serve high proportion of students from environmental justice |
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| 43 | 43 | | 19populations, as defined in section 62 of chapter 30; or which are located in environmental justice |
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| 44 | 44 | | 20populations; and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 21 (2) communities that have or will in the future experience disproportionate effects of the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 22change in climate. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 23 SECTION 2. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 48 | 48 | | 24Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “skills”, in line 38, the following |
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| 49 | 49 | | 25words:- interdisciplinary climate literacy |
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| 50 | 50 | | 26 SECTION 3. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 |
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| 51 | 51 | | 27Official edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 1T the following new section:- |
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| 52 | 52 | | 28 Section 1U. Elementary and Secondary Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy |
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| 53 | 53 | | 29 (a) Each district may implement an Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Plan that will |
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| 54 | 54 | | 30provide students with an understanding of the causes of, impacts from, and solutions to |
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| 55 | 55 | | 31anthropogenic climate change. Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy shall include, but not be |
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| 56 | 56 | | 32limited to, an understanding of climate change’s nexus to the fields of science, technology, |
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| 57 | 57 | | 33engineering, arts, history, social sciences, civics, and government, with a focus on climate justice |
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| 58 | 58 | | 34and equitable climate solutions. 3 of 4 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 35 (b) A school district, charter school, approved private day or residential school or |
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| 60 | 60 | | 36collaborative school may incorporate the climate change standards established pursuant to |
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| 61 | 61 | | 37section 1D and subsection (a) into existing curriculum including, but not limited to, science, |
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| 62 | 62 | | 38history and social sciences, technology or business. |
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| 63 | 63 | | 39 (c) The commissioner shall create and engage an Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy |
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| 64 | 64 | | 40Advisory Council. The commissioner, in consultation with the Council, shall provide guidelines |
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| 65 | 65 | | 41on the development and implementation of district-level Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy |
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| 66 | 66 | | 42Plans. The council shall include: youth leaders from a range of communities across the |
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| 67 | 67 | | 43Commonwealth, including representatives of environmental justice neighborhoods; |
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| 68 | 68 | | 44representatives of environmental justice organizations; teachers representing multiple disciplines; |
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| 69 | 69 | | 45educator union representatives with expertise in climate change and climate justice; and experts |
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| 70 | 70 | | 46in climate science and solutions. The Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Council shall seek to |
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| 71 | 71 | | 47ensure that each plan: |
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| 72 | 72 | | 48 (1) was created with the involvement and input of youth leaders from the district; |
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| 73 | 73 | | 49 (2) was developed in consultation with environmental, civics, and climate justice |
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| 74 | 74 | | 50organizations or professionals; and |
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| 75 | 75 | | 51 (3) provides equivalent instruction and opportunities for bilingual students and English |
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| 76 | 76 | | 52language learners. |
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| 77 | 77 | | 53 (d) The department may provide additional support and outreach including, but not |
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| 78 | 78 | | 54limited to, statewide and regional training, meetings or conferences, additional staff to support |
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| 79 | 79 | | 55students and teachers, and opportunities for districts and stakeholders to assess and share 4 of 4 |
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| 80 | 80 | | 56evidence-based best practices in support of climate change education, and to provide feedback |
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| 81 | 81 | | 57and recommendations to the department. |
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| 82 | 82 | | 58 (e) The department shall utilize funding from the Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Trust |
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| 83 | 83 | | 59Fund and may apply for federal, state or other funding. |
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